It’s been a while, but I’m back, baby. This probably sounds crazy to my friends in the rest of the country, but I’ve finally found myself chilly enough to bundle up for my daily walks with Ripley.1 While I’m currently digging out my favorite sweaters and cranking the space heaters, I find myself also craving some slurp-able soups to warm up from the inside out. This one really delivers and is wonderful served as leftovers since the flavors only intensify more. The best part of this is that it’s so easy. A few upfront steps of prep work but then it’s a set-it and forget-it attitude, leaving you plenty of time to hop into a warm bath, put some cozies on, and settle in for a comfortable evening to warm up and relax. Cue up the Oscar contenders, pronto!2
Every time I make this, I recall my winters spent growing up in Minnesota: days-long snowstorms, shoveling wet walkways in soggy boots, scraping ice from windshields with frozen fingertips. The last winter we lived there I spent literal hours getting home from work one afternoon in a blizzard. Walking the mile-and-a-half home through crowded throngs in the skyway labyrinth, I exited the tunnels knowing I only had 9 more blocks to walk in the wet, heavy, unending snow. It was there that I came face-to-face with a city bus that had slid onto a sidewalk via some black ice. It seems the bus, filled to the brim with passengers, had been stuck there for long enough that a handful of kind passersby had stopped to help push the bus free. As a native Minnesotan, I understood the assignment: I hoisted my backpack higher on my shoulders and geared up to help out, wondering how long these poor people had been stuck here on their way home. A few more shoves from our shivering group of help and the bus was lodged free to take the rest of the passengers to their respective stops. I hustled home, shrouding my windburned face deeper into my scarf, my canvas slip-on Vans soaked through. After the last few blocks, I looked up towards my apartment door and spotted my partner covered in snowflakes schlepping home, too. I immediately knew what the two of us needed: some hot, slurp-able warmth to shield us from the storm together, and thus, another fridge-clearing soup was born.
For those of you who find yourselves in similar situations this winter, my thoughts are with you, and even if you find yourself well-isolated from the white stuff, this time of year can still be chilly and cue up hibernation station. Either way, it’s time to stuff your pockets with some hand-warmers, dry out your lug sole boots, and brave the chill: by the time you come home and put your jam-jams on, you’ll be able to dive right into your own bowl of warmth, perfect for sharing or sustaining yourself for days to come. Remember: we’re only about a month away from spring. ~L
INGREDIENTS
3-4 dried Guajillo chiles, stems + seeds removed3
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled + smashed
4 strips of bacon, finely diced
1 c white onion, finely diced
1 c bell peppers, diced
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) sweet corn, drained
3 c chicken broth
1 28 oz can of peeled + crushed tomatoes
1 bag of sliced frozen chicken, pre-cooked
8-12 oz Mexican lager beer
1/4 c tomato paste
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp chili powder
Toppings
Avocado
Cilantro
Shredded cheese
Sliced olives
Jalapenos
Tortilla strips or chips
Lime wedges
INSTRUCTIONS
Place dried chiles in a small saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to simmer for 15-20 minutes.4 Remove them when they’re still firm but have brightened in color.
Heat a 5-qt dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and render all the fat until bacon is brown + crispy. Set aside on paper-towel-lined plate to drain and cool.
To the same dutch oven without draining, add the diced onion and bell pepper to the rendered bacon fat left in the pot. Saute until the onions are soft and peppers are brown or charred in spots.
While the onions and peppers saute, strain the dried chiles from the water mixture and place into a food processor. Add 1 tbsp of coarse sea salt and 1/2 cup of the liquid and pulse until the mixture becomes smooth and paste-like. Add red pepper flakes, cinnamon, spices, a splash of beer or stock, and/or chile liquid to taste.
Using just a splash of the Mexican lager, deglaze the pan and scrape up all the fond at the bottom of your dutch oven with your wooden spoon. Add the dried chile paste you just made from the food processor and the tomato paste. Saute until both pastes darken in color + their aromas intensify.
Add the remaining Mexican lager to the dutch oven. Add the can of peeled + crushed tomatoes, squishing with your fingers to break the tomatoes down into smaller pieces. Add all the liquid from the can of tomatoes. Add the drained black beans, sweet corn, and 2 cups of stock or broth.5 Increase heat to bring to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and add frozen chicken slices. Cover + simmer for 1-3 hours, watching the liquid level. If the stoup thickens too much, add more water/stock/beer. If the stoup remains too watery, vent the lid a bit to let some steam out.
To Serve: ladle your stoup into bowls. Top with fresh crema, chopped cilantro, pickled or candied jalapeños, sliced black olives, and shredded cheese. It’s perfect to serve with sturdy tortilla chips for scooping!
Chilly enough here really only means 60 degrees, but 60 in the desert chills you right to the bone! We’ve gotten weak in our time in SoCal.
Kind of a bummer of a year for best picture, huh? Demi and Marge have my vote so far.
I find these in our local grocery stores in Los Angeles, but you may have to head to a hispanic market to find them near you.
You’re only looking to rehydrate the chilis to help make your sauce for the soup, so just let them linger in this bath as instructed.
You can also use chicken or beef broth in this case to help deepen flavors.